'Exile' Remaster

I heard it yesterday evening Graeme.

Please bear in mid that my reply will not be impartial. I am not a great lover of the latest batch of Rolling Stones remasters. They sound too forward for my taste, almost aggressive. I have listened to 'Sticky Fingers' in its latest guise several times. it's not that it's bad. I just don't like it.

The recent release of 'Exile' didn't particularly grab me. I believe that it has greater clarity than previous issues but I think I prefer the sound of other versions. As i said, I am not impartial on this. So many listings rank 'Exile' in the Top 20 Greatets Albums list. I have never understood why so many critics regard it so highly. I have also thought that the Stones best album was 'Let It Bleed'.

I didn't get round to hearing the bonus audio disc but the DVD wasn't great. Lots of previously available footage.

My advice would be 'try before you buy' although I have seen that the basic CD package isn't too expensive. I would avoid the more expensive box set though.

Thanks.

G

Shame that the "golden era" of the Rolling Stones were never recorded all that well. Compared with the Beatles, who had the good fortune of a classically trained producer in George Martin.
The Rolling Stones did not have the benefit of this and the I think the recordings, the remasters bear this out.

Exile, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, I'm sure to have missed a few others, but wouldn't it be great to hear new, well done remasters of these classics?!

Max

Very true, Max, but we're stuck with what's on the mastertapes for those Stones sessions. The question is whether the new edition of 'Exile' is better than what went before.

The CD that I have is on the Virgin label, picked up when I was in NYC 10 or 15 years ago, when the mastering of the then available UK edition was notoriously bad. It would be good to know whether I should donate this to a charity shop and get the 'new' one.

It would also be good to hear from anyone who has compared the new CD to the new vinyl.

Graham

quote:

Originally posted by Max Bass:
Shame that the "golden era" of the Rolling Stones were never recorded all that well. Compared with the Beatles, who had the good fortune of a classically trained producer in George Martin.
The Rolling Stones did not have the benefit of this and the I think the recordings, the remasters bear this out.

Exile, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, I'm sure to have missed a few others, but wouldn't it be great to hear new, well done remasters of these classics?!

Max

I have the SACD remastered Let It Bleed on ABKO vinyl and it sounds great if a little flat (digital?) maybe you could search these out for a try.



Dean...

quote:

Originally posted by Max Bass:

Exile, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Beggars Banquet, I'm sure to have missed a few others,

Max

No, this is it!

quote:

Originally posted by graham55:
Very true, Max, but we're stuck with what's on the mastertapes for those Stones sessions. The question is whether the new edition of 'Exile' is better than what went before.

The CD that I have is on the Virgin label, picked up when I was in NYC 10 or 15 years ago, when the mastering of the then available UK edition was notoriously bad. It would be good to know whether I should donate this to a charity shop and get the 'new' one.

It would also be good to hear from anyone who has compared the new CD to the new vinyl.

Graham

I have both versions of 'Exile..." and while I have only done a cursory comparison I would say that the Universal remaster sounds quieter and cleaner, possibly slightly compressed. Whereas I think the Virgin remastering possibly stays closer to the feel of the original release.

Strangely there is no information about the remastering on the new Universal version, whereas the Virgin remaster does give brief details on who did it and the process used.

I have the vinyl as well but havent had a chance to listen to it yet.

I do think that the vague, muddy mix of 'Exile..' is part of its appeal and that it would lose some of what makes it unique if it where all shiny and new.

My advice is to nip out to Boots and get some cotton wool balls you will need them. For my easr it's bright and thank god I only borrowed it off a friend and didn't buy it.

The Virgin version was 3-4db louder than the original and this one is another 3-4db on top of the Virgin. They have done the usual compress the dynamics.

My comment is based on the snippets I heard on Today one morning last week. It's not about the quality of the remastering but about the content.

According to Jagger, when they were putting the tracks together, there were some that were put to one side because they didn't have enough space for all of them on the four sides of vinyl. And the remaindered tracks didn't have lyrics either so he's recently written them and added them as a contemporary vocal. Trouble is, as far as I could tell his style was more Goddess in the doorway than the Exile.

Er, it seems like cashing in... but I'd love to be proved wrong on what is my all time favourite record.

And yes, perverse as it may sound on a hi-fi manufacturer's site, I'm with King Size, I like that authentic muddy, dirty feel too.

Best, Chris

So my best plan may be to stick with the Virgin CD and get the new remastered vinyl?

I see in the news that the reissue of 'Exile' is likely to top the mainstream album charts this week!

That means that the supermarkets will be selling it. Go on graham55 ... Get down to ASDA and give it a go. You will only lose £12.99 or so if you don't like it!

Or 100 pounds or so if you go for the vinyl, which I did, for no logical reason. The book is nicely made though.
"Exile" is never going to be a hi-fi test record, but it certainly has some good tunes on it.

Rockingdoc wrote:

quote:

it certainly has some good tunes on it.

Agreed but are the new ones giving you anything extra?

Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Christopher_M:
Agreed but are the new ones giving you anything extra?

Depends on if you are a completist or not. Personally I tend to prefer original albums without all the bonus tracks as I find they can detract from the original concept/feel of the album.

But there is s Stones fan I know who has already ordered about 7 different versions(including Best Buy exclusives, country specific releases etc.) of the new 'Exile reissue'. Right now he is a very happy (if rather poorer) man.

Understood King Size. Despite everything I've said, and the fact that I may loftily intone that the original album stands as its own record of its time and place, I'm also pretty sure I will be buying it. Won't be going as far as your friend though!

Chris

It's a very nice boxset, the photo book being a tremendous component of the extra value to me.

It does seem to be a louder version than the original CD that I have. Sounded good in the car and the digital rip was OK, but for the fact that I had to turn the volume down.

A vinyl shoot out has yet to take place, a) finding the time, b) am not sure how many pressings I actually have in total